History of YourPBC.org
The Community Foundation for Palm Beach and Martin Counties started YourPBC.org to bring the communities within Palm Beach County together digitally to share news, information, and resources.
Palm Beach County is a geographically large (2000 sq miles!) and diverse county, with one common thread - Anything that happens in the county affects everyone in it. Whether you are in Jupiter or Boca, Wellington or Palm Beach - we all face the same issues.
The idea started from a Foundation study called "Problems in Paradise" that uncovered the main concerns/issues across the county. Once the study was completed, we thought "how can we best educate the citizens in this county about these issues, and to give them a voice and the ability to act on these issues?"
Traditionally, people would go to a public or town square; a physical area where people would come together to discuss issues, share thoughts and information and come up with solutions to these problems. But, as you know, times have changed. It's more difficult for people to come together in person, because they lack the time, space and information to do so.
It was this concept that led to YourPBC.org. Finally, a way to mobilize citizens, aggregate and disseminate hyper-local information across a large geographic area. Our first iteration of the site launched in May 2009. We Launched the second iteration with an entirely new approach to Local Information and Local Engagement about a year later in June 2010 - dubbed YourPBC Phase 2.
Our goal is to make hyper-local community information more accessible, more prominent, and easier to act on. We feel you should be able to access local information just as easily as you can access national information! We also do something that other sites don't do - we provide context - So that you can see the full picture of a local issue.
YourPBC provides powerful tools to help you make a difference in your life, and your community. Our website is driven by passionate people and organizations that take pride in their community, and have a stake in its future.
Thank you for getting involved; it's time to take action!
S. Slade Sundar
Director of YourPBC.org / Director of Digital Communications
Community Foundation for Palm Beach & Martin Counties
